4 AMUSEMENT TODAY Golden Ticket Awards September 2017

Life doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes, the right person with the right vision turns an unfortunate situation into something glorious.

In 2005 Gordon Hartman made an observation. While vacationing with his wife Maggie and daughter Morgan, the family enjoyed some relaxation time at the hotel pool. Morgan was eager to play with the other children who were on vacation, but they did not want to interact with her. Morgan had special needs. She was differ-ent. At that moment, Gordon resolved to do something to make a difference. There needed to be places where people with and without disabilities could play together, not only to have fun, but have a further under-standing that all people are different, and at the same time, have much in common.

Five years later, Morgan’s Wonderland opened its doors in San Antonio. With the park being completely wheelchair acces-sible, there were numerous activities to engage people with and without cognitive or physical challenges — train rides, fishing, role play, musical instruments, car rides, playground equipment, a carousel and more. Parents were visibly moved when seeing their children participate in activities they never believed would be possible.

The park readily admits that they conveyed the concept of accessibility a little too firmly in the early years, and many people believed that only visitors with special needs could come. But the vision of the park is for people of all abilities to enjoy time together. In time, the message was clear and everyone felt welcome to come.

Growth continued and many sensory attractions and rides continued to fall into place, as well as an amphitheater entertainment space.

For this season, the park tackled a big problem. Texas can be hot. With more than two years in development and construction, Morgan’s Inspiration Island welcomed visitors to get wet. With slides, spray areas, water activities and a boat ride (all sup-plied by WhiteWater West), the all-inclusive water park allows guests to beat the heat. The park has even provided waterproof wheelchairs for its guests, all at no charge. The themed areas and colorful buildings create a water oasis. [See full cover-age of Morgan’s Inspiration Island in AT’s October issue.]

In just a few short years, this special non-profit park has welcomed more than a million guests from all 50 states and 67 other countries. For those with physical or cognitive special needs, admission is free. Nominal admission charges apply only to family and friends, as well as the general public.

With its ongoing mission to provide a safe, clean and beautiful environment free of physical and economic barriers that all individuals can enjoy, Amusement Today is honored to acknowledge Morgan’s Wonderland as Park of the Year.

For most people in the industry, it is hard to imagine a time when high-profile rides were in short supply. A half century ago, that was quite the case. With a mere handful of theme parks in existence, the demand wasn’t there. By the late 1960s, Six Flags had opened its second theme park, and a third wasn’t far off in development. Before long, the country, if not the world, was in the theme park boom.

“By 1970, the park had matured. We had already put in all the shelf product that was available,” said Errol McKoy, industry veteran and former Six Flags Over Georgia general manager. “We were put in a posi-tion to innovate.”

Intamin, a company formed by Robert Spieldiener and friend Ali Saiko (later to be joined by Robert’s brother, Reinhold Speildiener), had already begun providing a few rides to the Six Flags parks. Robert’s belief that the company could continue to engineer and produce rides was proven correct. Six Flags and the fledgling theme park industry needed a company just like Intamin — one that was ready to innovate new ideas.

During the past five decades, many iconic rides — from towers to parachute rides — and industry staples such as the rapids ride have come from the minds at Intamin.

While flat rides and towers started the company, thrill rides and water rides soon became the company's calling card. Intamin’s product line is virtually every-where around the globe, and the company’s contributions can’t be overstated. Rapids rides, Shoot-the-Chutes and freefall rides became absolute essentials in the theme park market.

Just glancing at the top of the steel roller coaster charts in this very issue, one can see that Intamin has found enormous success building roller coasters as well. Having had partners and engineering talent that would eventually strike out on their own, Intamin continued to innovate and found spectacular acclaim with sleek new thrillers that pushed boundaries for steel roller coasters and even wood. Fan favorites across the U.S., Europe and beyond solidify Intamin’s importance in the theme park industry.

With such a diverse catalog of product and hundreds and hundreds of rides pro-viding thrills and smiles to all parts of the world, Intamin’s success story couldn’t be more well-deserved. Amusement Today congratulates Intamin, on the company’s 50th anniversary, as the Publisher’s Pick Supplier of the Year.

2017 Publisher's Picks: Supplier, ParkIntamin celebrates 50 years of innovation

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When the industry was looking for new, innovative rides, Intamin stepped in to supply new attractions. COURTESY INTAMIN

This year’s addition was an incredible all-access splash park called Morgan’s Inspiration Island. AT/TIM BALDWIN

Roller coasters, water rides and numerous variations of tower rides have provided Intamin with half a century of iconic attractions.COURTESY INTAMIN; AT FILE PHOTO

Morgan’s Wonderland grows its special message

Morgan’s Wonderland opened its gates to guests of all abilities in 2010.AT/TIM BALDWIN

Golden Ticket Awards September 2017 AMUSEMENT TODAY 5

Since Amusement Today introduced the Golden Ticket Awards in 1998, we continue to seek out the most experienced park enthusiasts to participate in our survey. AT follows a fair and balanced proto-col of dividing our ballots between four geograph-ical regions (see color map at right) of the United States. In addition to the hundreds of surveys sent to American enthusiasts, international fans are also sought out and we invite such fans to contact us for participation in future years. Amusement Today thanks the hundreds of voters who helped form this year’s panel of experts and make the 2017 Golden Ticket Awards a reality.

Are you a qualified candidate? Con-tact Golden Ticket Awards Commu-nications Coordinator Tim Baldwin at tbaldwin@amusementtoday.com and we’ll see if you would make a good representative for your region on next year’s new panel.

Of note, park employees, manufacturers, and Amusement Today staff were not eligible to be on the 2017 panel.

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5 – International Surveys

Amusement Today usesbalanced regions for voting

2017 Publisher's Picks: Person

On October 6, 1846, Samuel Botsford, an influen-tial Bristol scientist, persuaded property owner Gad Norton, an original settler descendant, to let him conduct "a series of beautiful experiments in electric-ity." Well publicized, the event drew thousands of spectators who witnessed the demonstration amidst the beauty of the woods and water. Although the fi-nal experiment of "blowing up from shore, two huge jugs of gunpowder tied under a raft in the middle of the lake" failed, it did inspire Norton to action. He put a path around the lake, set up picnic tables, al-lowed public swimming and rowing on the lake and built a gazebo for lakeside band concerts. Lake Com-pounce had officially opened to the public as a pic-turesque "picnic" park.

The Lake Compounce history is a rich one with many names and companies having their hand in its long-standing success.

Fast forward to 2009. That's when Lake Com-pounce was acquired by Palace Entertainment (part of the Parques Reunidos group) — its current care-taker of this heirloom attraction. Their commitment to the park is simple: to maintain a top-notch family entertainment venue, as well as providing superior guest service, all while continuing to introduce new product for the guests to enjoy.

Jerry Brick began his career with Lake Com-pounce in 1996 as the park's director of revenue, then director of operations. He became the park's general manager in 2004 and oversaw the transition of the park to today's ownership.

Anyone who has even met Jerry or been on a stroll with Jerry will tell you of his love, and knowl-edge, of the park's rich history and desire to make it the "Best of the Best." What I noticed during multiple walks through the park with Jerry over the years is his sense of people and community. One can walk

no more than 100 yards in the park without being stopped and a conversation started up with a total stranger or someone he knows locally from church, the kids' sports practices, an upcoming school func-tion or the neighbor down the street who came out to the park for the day.

Jerry's passion for the park has led to a tremen-dous growth of state-of-the-art roller coasters and a supporting mix of family rides. He has overseen the expansion of the popular Crocodile Cove water park and added Bear Creek Campground, a request by guests in their exit survey polls.

Last year saw the addition of the Phobia launch coaster from Premier Rides, giving the park an ul-tra-modern unique steel coaster. This year, the park

turned to Martin & Vleminckx Rides to do a ma-jor rebuild of the classic Wildcat and touch up track work on the ranked Boulder Dash coaster. Not stop-ping there, Jerry turned to Great Coasters Interna-tional for new Wildcat trains and had a new safety control system installed.

Lake Compounce may be the nation's oldest amusement park, but it is far from that once inside the gates as the mix of old and new blend in a seam-less environment.

Jerry Brick's passion, and his commitment to a quality, thrilling and safe facility, catering to the New England family audience makes him Amusement To-day's pick for 2017 Person of the Year.

Jerry Brick keeps Lake Compounce's rich tradition alive and well

Jerry Brick's (above) passion for Lake Compounce has kept the park a seemless blend of a modern amusement facility and a traditional park.COURTESY LAKE COMPOUNCE

10 AMUSEMENT TODAY Golden Ticket Awards September 2017

BEST PARK Europa-Park Rust, Germany 27%Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio 18%Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 11%Knoebels Amusement Resort Elysburg, Pa. 10%Disneyland Anaheim, Calif. 6%

BEST WATER PARK Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, Texas 57%Splashin’ Safari Santa Claus, Ind. 17%Volcano Bay Orlando, Fla. 6%Dollywood’s Splash Country Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 4%Typhoon Lagoon Lake Buena Vista, Fla, 3%

BEST CHILDREN’S PARK Idlewild & SoakZone Ligonier, Pa. 19%Storybook Land Egg Harbor Twp., N.J. 11%Story Land Bartlett, N.H. 9%Morgan’s Wonderland San Antonio, Texas 8%Gilroy Gardens Gilroy, Calif. 7% (tie) Legoland California Carlsbad, Calif. 7% (tie) Legoland Florida Winter Haven, Calif. 7% (tie) BEST MARINE LIFE PARK SeaWorld Orlando Orlando, Fla. 58%SeaWorld San Diego San Diego, Calif. 10%Discovery Cove Orlando, Fla. 8%SeaWorld San Antonio San Antonio, Texas 7%Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Vallejo, Calif. 6%

BEST SEASIDE PARK Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Santa Cruz, Calif. 31%Morey’s Piers Wildwood, N.J. 26% Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool, England 25%Gröna Lund Stockhom, Sweden 12%

BEST KIDS’ AREA Kings Island Mason, Ohio 23%Universal’s Islands of Adventure Orlando, Fla. 13%Efteling Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands 10%Europa-Park Rust, Germany 9%Paultons Park Romsey, England 8%

CLEANEST PARK Holiday World Santa Claus, Ind. 26%Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 17%Europa-Park Rust, Germany 9% Busch Gardens Williamsburg Williamsburg, Va. 7%Magic Kingdom Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 6%

BEST SHOWS Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 46%Six Flags Fiesta Texas San Antonio, Texas 18%Silver Dollar City Branson, Mo. 5% (tie)SeaWorld Orlando Orlando, Fla. 5% (tie)Disney’s Hollywood Studios Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 4%

PARK AND RIDE WINNERS Ranked by percentage of votes cast

BEST NEW RIDE FOR 2017 (Amusement Park)

Mystic Timbers Kings Island 45%Flight of Passage Disney’s Animal Kingdom 15%Mine Blower Fun Spot America 8% InvadR Busch Gardens Williamsburg 7% Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster SeaWorld San Antonio 6%

BEST NEW RIDE FOR 2017 (Water Park)

Thunder Rapids Six Flags Fiesta Texas 47%Krakatau Aqua Coaster Volcano Bay 31%Point Plummet Cedar Point Shores 7% (tie)Miss Adventure Falls Typhoon Lagoon 7% (tie) Ko’okiri Body Plunge Volcano Bay 4%

BONUS COVERAGEwww.GoldenTicketAwards.com

referred to as The Happiest Place on Earth.

BEST SEASIDE PARK has long been a close race. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (No. 1), Morey’s Piers (No. 2) and Blackpool Pleasure Beach (No. 3) have had neck-and-neck bat-tles for several years and the Golden Ticket has been a tug-of-war the past few. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk takes the gold again this year. With new rides and an enhanced entrance, the seaside favorite looks better than ever. Morey’s Piers moves up a notch regaining ground trying to reach the top as it did in 2015.

Gröna Lund continues its place on the charts. The Swedish seaside gem places at No. 4.

In the category of BEST CHILDREN’S PARK, Idlewild & SoakZone keeps its hold on the Golden Ticket. A finalist

since the category was intro-duced in 2004, the small wood-ed park in Ligonier, Pa., has grabbed the gold since 2010, with this year making it eight years in a row.

The finalists, however, create a lot of movement and activity. Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., which appeared on the charts for the

first time in 2015, maintains a hold on the No. 2 spot. Story Land in Glen, N.H., made its debut in this category in 2013 and ranks No. 3 in 2017. New on the charts is first timer Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio, Texas. This all-inclusive park welcomes children and

PARKSContinued from page 7

BEST WATER PARK No. 2: Splashin' Safari (above) BEST MARINE LIFE PARK: SeaWorld Orlando (right)

AT/TIM BALDWIN

4See PARKS, page 12

12 AMUSEMENT TODAY Golden Ticket Awards September 2017

PARK AND RIDE WINNERS Ranked by percentage of votes cast

BEST FOOD Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 25% Knoebels Amusement Resort Elysburg, Pa. 23% Epcot Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 17% Silver Dollar City Branson, Mo. 11%Busch Gardens Williamsburg Williamsburg, Va. 5%

BEST WATER RIDE (PARK) Valhalla Blackpool Pleasure Beach 24%Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls Universal’s Islands of Adventure 18%Chiapas Phantasialand 8%Splash Mountain Magic Kingdom 7%Jurassic Park River Adventure Universal’s Islands of Adventure 6%

BEST WATER PARK RIDE Wildebeest Splashin’ Safari 28%Mammoth Splashin’ Safari 18%The Falls Schlitterbahn New Braunfels 14%Master Blaster Schlitterbahn New Braunfels 8%Massiv Schlitterbahn Galveston Island 6%

BEST INDOOR COASTER Revenge of the Mummy Universal Studios Orlando 24%Space Mountain Disneyland 11%Space Mountain Magic Kingdom 10% (tie) Winja's Fear & Force Phantasialand 10% (tie)Black Diamond Knoebels Amusement Resort 9.5%

BEST DARK RIDE Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Disney’s Hollywood Studios 16%Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Universal’s Islands of Adventure 10%Haunted Mansion Knoebels Amusement Resort 9.5% Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man Universal’s Islands of Adventure 9% Harry Potter / Escape from Gringotts Universal Studios Orlando 8% BEST LANDSCAPING Busch Gardens Williamsburg Williamsburg, Va. 31%Gilroy Gardens Gilroy, Calif. 15%Efteling Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands 12%Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 8%Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 6%

BEST HALLOWEEN EVENT Universal Orlando Resort Orlando, Fla. 26%Knott’s Berry Farm Buena Park, Calif. 20%Knoebels Amusement Resort Elysburg, Pa. 10%Kennywood West Mifflin, Pa. 6%Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Tampa, Fla. 5% (tie)Six Flags Fiesta Texas San Antonio, Texas 5% (tie) Universal Studios Hollywood Hollywood, Calif. 5% (tie)

BEST CHRISTMAS EVENT Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 47%Silver Dollar City Branson, Mo. 9%Disneyland Anaheim, Calif. 7% (tie)Magic Kingdom Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 7% (tie) Kennywood West Mifflin, Pa. 5%

BEST CAROUSEL Knoebels Amusement Resort Elysburg, Pa. 41%Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Santa Cruz, Calif. 20%Six Flags Over Georgia Austell, Ga. 7% Kennywood West Mifflin, Penn. 6% Six Flags Great America Gurnee, Ill. 5.5% (tie)Efteling Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands 5.5% (tie)

FRIENDLIEST PARK Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 39%Holiday World Santa Claus, Ind. 16%Silver Dollar City Branson, Mo. 11% Knoebels Amusement Resort Elysburg, Pa. 10% Alabama Splash Adventure Bessemer, Alabama 5%

BEST FUNHOUSE/WALK-THROUGH ATTRACTION Noah’s Ark Kennywood 32%Ghost Ship Morey’s Piers 18%Frankenstein’s Castle Indiana Beach 12%Gasten Ghost Hotel Liseberg 11% Lustiga Huset Gröna Lund 10%

BONUS COVERAGEwww.GoldenTicketAwards.com

families of all abilities and has just opened a new water park this season accommodating all visitors. This special park comes in at No. 4. Completing the results is a three-way tie for fifth place: Gilroy Gardens (Gilroy, Calif.), Legoland California

(Carlsband) and Legoland Florida (Winter Haven).

SeaWorld Orlando has held tight to the BEST MARINE LIFE PARK since AT introduced the category in 2006.

“At SeaWorld Orlando, we are proud to offer our guests up-close animal encounters, thrilling attractions, and unique events all year. Through innova-tion and creativity, we continu-ally seek new ways for families to learn more about our natural world while making memories that last a lifetime,” said Jim Dean, SeaWorld Orlando park president.

SeaWorld San Diego, the original, hangs on to the No. 2 spot. That park opened in 1964. Coming up two notches in the standings is Discovery Cove, the animal interactive experi-ence in Orlando. SeaWorld San Antonio (No. 4) and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (No. 5) fill out the chart.

PARKSContinued from page 10

BEST MARINE LIFE PARK No. 2: SeaWorld San DiegoAT/TIM BALDWIN

BEST SEASIDE PARK: Santa Cruz Beach BoardwalkCOURTESY SANTA CRUZ BEACH BOARDWALK

BEST CHILDREN'S PARK No. 2: Storybook Land AT/JEFFREY SEIFERT

BEST SEASIDE PARK No. 2: Morey's Piers AT/TIM BALDWIN

46 AMUSEMENT TODAY Golden Ticket Awards September 2017

THE LIST2017 TOP 25 STEEL ROLLER COASTERS

RANK NAME PARK LOCATION SUPPLIER YEAR TOTAL

1 Fury 325 Carowinds Charlotte, N.C. B&M 2015 1354

2 Millennium Force Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio Intamin 2000 1129

3 Superman The Ride Six Flags New England Agawam, Mass. Intamin 2000 705

4 Iron Rattler Six Flags Fiesta Texas San Antonio, Texas Rocky Mountain 2013 657

5 Expedition GeForce Holiday Park Hassloch, Germany Intamin 2001 575

6 Leviathan Canada's WonderlandVaughan, Ontario,

CanadaB&M 2012 481

7 Nitro Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, N.J. B&M 2001 442

8 Diamondback Kings Island Mason, Ohio B&M 2009 381

9 New Texas Giant Six Flags Over Texas Arlington, Texas Rocky Mountain 2011 379

10 Maverick Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio B&M 2007 375

11 Apollo's Chariot Busch Gardens Williamsburg Williamsburg, Va. B&M 1999 374

12 Phantom's Revenge Kennywood West Mifflin, Pa. Morgan 2001 344

13 Intimidator 305 Kings Dominion Doswell, Va. Intamin 2010 330

14-tie Goliath Six Flags Over Georgia Austell, Ga. B&M 2006 291

14-tie Wicked Cyclone Six Flags New England Agawam, Mass. Rocky Mountain 2015 291

16 Twisted Colossus Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia, Calif. Rocky Mountain 2015 284

17 Top Thrill Dragster Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio Intamin 2003 276

18 Blue Fire Europa-Park Rust, Germany Mack 2006 272

19 Intimidator Carowinds Charlotte, N.C. B&M 2010 261

20 Nemesis Alton Towers Staffordshire, England B&M 1994 254

21 Taron Phantasialand Brühl, Germany Intamin 2016 253

22 Banshee Kings Island Mason, Ohio B&M 2014 244

23 Magnum XL-200 Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio Arrow 1989 238

24 Skyrush Hersheypark Hershey, Pa. Intamin 2012 235

25 X2 Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia, Calif. Arrow 2002 217

50 AMUSEMENT TODAY Golden Ticket Awards September 2017

THE LIST2017 TOP 25 WOODEN ROLLER COASTERS

RANK NAME PARK LOCATION SUPPLIER YEAR TOTAL

1 El Toro Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, N.J. Intamin 2009 1241

2 Phoenix Knoebels Amusement Resort Elysburg, Pa. Dinn-PTC/Schmeck 1985 1212

3 Boulder Dash Lake Compounce Bristol, Conn. Custom Coasters 2000 1171

4 Voyage Holiday World Santa Claus, Ind. Gravity Group 2006 1113

5 Lightning Rod Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Rocky Mountain 2016 710

6 Beast Kings Island Mason, Ohio KECO 1979 666

7 Ravine Flyer II Waldameer Erie, Pa. Gravity Group 2008 612

8 Thunderhead Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Great Coasters Int. 2004 560

9 Outlaw Run Silver Dollar City Branson, Mo. Rocky Mountain 2013 541

10 Gold Striker California's Great America Santa Clara, Calif. Great Coasters Int. 2013 489

11 Mystic Timbers Kings Island Mason, Ohio Great Coasters Int. 2017 345

12 Lightning Racer Hersheypark Hershey, Pa. Great Coasters Int. 2000 276

13 Goliath Six Flags Great America Gurnee, Ill. Rocky Mountain 2014 269

14 Boardwalk Bullet Kemah Boardwalk Kemah Boardwalk M&V/Gravity Group 2007 236

15 Wodan Europa-Park Rust, Germany Great Coasters Int. 2012 223

16 Balder Liseberg Gothenburg, Sweden Intamin 2003 221

17 Thunderbolt Kennywood West Mifflin, Pa. Vettel/Miller 1968 220

18-tie GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm Buena Vista, Calif. Custom Coasters 1998 219

18-tie Troy Toverland Sevenum, Netherlands Great Coasters Int. 2007 219

18-tie White Lightning Fun Spot America Orlando, Fla. Great Coasters Int. 2013 219

21 Rampage Alabama Splash Adventure Bessemer, Ala. Custom Coasters 1998 218

22 Cyclone Luna Park Brooklyn, N.Y. Keenan/Baker 1927 217

23 Raven Holiday World Santa Claus, Ind. Custom Coasters 1995 214

24 Legend Holiday World Santa Claus, Ind. Custom Coasters 2000 198

25 Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure Muskegon, Mich. Custom Coasters 1998 197